Top Gun     

By Tom Keogh

We've not had time to write about this movie yet. If you were a fan, we'd love to have you help us out by Jingoism, beefcake, military hardware, and a Giorgio Moroder rock score reign supreme over taste and logic in this Tony Scott film about a maverick trainee pilot (Tom Cruise) who can't follow the rules at a Navy aviation training facility. The dogfight sequences between American and Soviet jets at the end are absolutely mechanical, though audiences loved it at the time. The love story between Cruise's character and that of Kelly McGillis is like flipping through pages of advertising in a glossy magazine. This designer action movie from 1986 would be all the more appalling were it not for the canny casting of good actors in dumb parts. Standouts include Anthony Edwards--who makes a nice impression as Cruise's average-Joe pal--and the relatively unknown Meg Ryan in a small but memorable appearance. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, optional French soundtrack, optional Spanish subtitles, and closed captioning.

Academy Awards

Top Gun received an Academy Award for Music Best Song (Giorgio Moroder - Music, Tom Whitlock - Lyrics). It also received nominations for Film Editing (Billy Weber, Chris Lebenzon), Sound (Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, William B. Kaplan), and Sound Effects Editing (Cecelia Hall, George Watters, II).

Share Your Memories!

Is Top Gun one of your favorite movies? What do you remember about it? Share your stories (or your reviews) with the world! (We print the best stories right here!)